With the Great American Smokeout just around the corner this Thursday, cigarette smokers may look for ways to quit. According to a KITV4 report, a study from University of Hawai‘i researchers may have the solution: e-cigarettes.

University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center Prevention and Control Program researchers Pallav Pokhrel and Thaddeus Herzog have found that smokers who use e-cigarettes as a way to quit smoking tend to be younger and more motivated to quit.

LONDON (Reuters) – British scientists say they have found the best way yet to analyze the effects of smoking on the brain — by taking functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans of people while they puff on e-cigarettes.

In a small pilot study, the researchers used electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, to mimic the behavioral aspects of smoking tobacco cigarettes, and say future studies could help scientists understand why smoking is so addictive.

E-cigarettes use battery-powered cartridges to produce a nicotine-laced vapor to inhale — hence the new term “vaping”.

Residents and business owners are invited to a public forum Friday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at City Hall on 100 W. Woodstock St. to gather information on e-cigarettes and take a survey to indicate where they believe use of the devices should be allowed. For those who cannot make it, the educational materials and survey are available at the Crystal Lake website.